The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.īut you know what? We change lives. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.” My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. “Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. Lovecraft stories.Ībout a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”: So for this spooky season, here are, in no particular order, my favorite H. The word "Cthulhu" is the name of one of these "old ones." This concept has proven so popular that many authors have used it directly or "adapted" the idea for their own stories. But these evil gods are constantly trying to reclaim our world, whether by a man or a cult that worships them or through some unknowing dupe who stumbles upon the evil spell book known as the Necronomicon. This myth holds that our planet was once ruled by the "Old Ones," evil, monstrous gods that, after ruling earth for eons, were driven away, back to their dark dimension deep within the sea.
Second, and most important to me (and to his legion of fans), is the "Cthulhu Mythos" that most of his stories share.
Arkham (believed to actually be based on Salem, Mass.) is home to the Miskatonic University that is featured in or referenced in many of his stories. His stories take place mostly in New England, from Providence, R.I. I love many things about his tales, but perhaps my favorite is his choice of locales. Lovecraft, I find October to be the perfect time to reread his classic stories of horror.